The tenth annual meeting of the International Society for Heart Research (ISHR), American Section will be held from June 26-29, 1988 in Williamsburg, Virginia. The theme for the meeting is "Signal Transduction and Molecular Mechanisms in Vascular Smooth and Cardiac Muscle." The meeting will be organized by Dr. Michael L. Hess and his colleagues at the Medical College of Virginia. The preliminary list of invited speakers and symposia chairmen includes investigators with international reputations in their chosen fields. Invitations have been accepted by scientists from Japan and Germany as well as the United States. By placing emphasis on vascular smooth as well as cardiac muscle, this meeting will bring together scientists who will greatly benefit from comparisons of mechanisms involved in both types of muscle. This is a unique feature of this conference particularly in reference to prior meetings of the ISHR, American Section. Previously, the ISHR meeting themes have dealt almost exclusively with physiological and pathophysiological aspects of myocardial function. The them of the conference, that is, "Signal Transduction and Molecular Mechanisms . . ." was chosen because advances in these areas are at the forefront of current experimental research. Advances are occurring so rapidly in these areas that it is difficult to remain current as far as the latest breakthroughs are concerned. The purpose of this conference will be to bring in the top scientists involved in these studies for three days for an intense update on these topics. To the best of our knowledge, this symposium will mark the first major attempt at the integration of signal transduction with the molecular responses at the endothelium, vascular smooth muscle, and cardiac myocyte in normal physiology and pathophysiology. This approach should provide an impetus for continued integrative research.